Adelaide assistant coach James Rahilly says playing with confidence has been pivotal to Darcy Fogarty’s strong form over the past fortnight.
After playing a vital role ahead of the ball in the Crows’ 47-point win in Showdown 54, the 23-year-old backed it up with another eye-catching performance against the Suns on Saturday.
Pushing hard up the ground, Fogarty collected 19 disposals, took 10 marks and laid eight tackles.
He also got his due reward in front of the sticks, booting three goals to cap off a complete performance.
Speaking to the media on Monday, Rahilly said it was pleasing to see Fogarty get reward for his hard-work on the track.
“Fog is still working on being a consistent forward, and being a forward is the hardest area to be consistent, I will stick up for the forwards in the department,” Rahilly said.
“But his last two weeks have been really strong, he is probably going at the ball a bit better and doing his work before the ball comes in a lot better as well.
“He is a confidence player, so when he gets his hands on the ball early and the boys look for him he is hard to stop.”
Along with strong performances from Fogarty and the Crows forwards, the work of Adelaide’s inexperienced defence was crucial in setting up its tenth win of the season.
Rahilly said the ability for the likes of James Borlase, Mark Keane and Luke Nankervis to come into the side and contribute showed the strength of the Club’s depth.
“They (the back six) were great,” Rahilly said.
“For those young boys to come in, and I think Nicksy spoke about our depth, but guys like Keaney (Mark Keane), (James) Borlase and (Luke) Nankervis have shown that they haven’t been far away all year.
“Selection has been tough all season, but with a few injuries in defence over the last couple of weeks these boys have come in and done a great job.”
The Crows will be searching for their third victory in a row this weekend as they travel to Brisbane to face the second-placed Lions.
“We are going up there, as Nicksy said after the game, we will be ready to go,” Rahilly said.
“It’s going to be a great game, they are still playing for something as well in a top two spot, so it will be a great fight.
“We have definitely played good halves or three quarters away from home this year, everyone knows what our game looks like, so it will just be about executing that for four quarters on Saturday.”
Attend our last home game of 2023 for just $1*
Details here.
*Terms and conditions apply
